Since I only just arrived back in Houston from Tucson this evening, here's a quickie scouting report on the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, who come into Reckling tomorrow (Wednesday) for a 4:30PM CST start.
SFA has struggled out of the gate, posting a 2 - 6 record against only so-so competition. They lost last week midweek to the Aggies 8-0, split at home vs. Washington State, and lost 2 of 3 this past weekend at Louisiana-Monroe. Here's their schedule and results to date...
http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2015/sch...n-F-Austin
Offensively, they're hitting just .233/.313/.287 as a team, with 13 extrabase hits, 0 HRs, and averaging just 3.9 runs per game. Having said that, they do have several guys who have hit well early: leadoff hitter and speedster Dickey Matthew (.323/.417/.387, 2 doubles, 7 runs, 6-6 SBs), Nick Ramos (.313/.389/.438, 3 doubles/triples, 7 RBIs) and Hunter Wilson (.455/.538/.545, but in only 11 ABs). SFA appears to be a very aggressive team-- both at the plate (25 BBs to a whopping 76 strikeouts, or almost 10 Ks per game) and on the bases (18 - 21 in stolen bases in just 8 games). So long as our pitchers throw strikes, and keep the free passes to a minimum, we should not only keep their scoring down, but rack up a ton of strikeouts. Interestingly, given all their speed, they only successfully laid down one sac bunt so far this season.
On the mound, we're going to face So RHP Jarred Greene, who started against the Aggies and took the loss (4.0 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 1 BBs, 1 balk, 2 Ks). He's given up 5 doubles in 5.0 innings of work over 3 outings. However, SFA does have 5 different relievers-- each with at least 3 outings already this year and at least 3.0 IP-- who have posted 0.00 ERAs and BAAs below .200. Four of the five relievers are RHPs. With our left-hand laden lineup, coupled with his low strikeout frequency, we should be able to continue our offensive assault. We may also be able to get our stolen base game going (we're currently 5-5 in SBs this year), as the Aggies stole 6 bases last Tuesday, and oppenents are 15-19 in SBs against the Lumberjacks this year. Expect a lot of pitching changes, as SFA have used on average 5 pitchers per game over the first 8 games of the season.
Here's the individual and team stats...
http://www.sfajacks.com/sports/m-basebl/...mcume.html
...and their roster...
http://www.sfajacks.com/sports/m-basebl/...l-mtt.html
Here's the SFA game notes for tomorrow's contest...
http://www.sfajacks.com/sports/m-basebl/...15aaa.html
and here's the Rice game notes...
http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/...15aaa.html
No word on who gets the start for the Owls, but my guess would be either Willy Amador or Ryan McCarthy. Let's not take SFA lightly and fall victim to a trap game (between the hard-fought Arizona trip and the upcoming Stanford series). Let's take care of business at home. Go Owls!